How is multi-tasking different from increased difficulty?
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THEORETICAL REVIEW
How is multi-tasking different from increased difficulty? Zachary L. Howard 1 & Nathan J. Evans 2 & Reilly J. Innes 1 & Scott D. Brown 1 & Ami Eidels 1
# The Psychonomic Society, Inc. 2020
Abstract With the advancement of technologies like in-car navigation and smartphones, concerns around how cognitive functioning is influenced by “workload” are increasingly prevalent. Research shows that spreading effort across multiple tasks can impair cognitive abilities through an overuse of resources, and that similar overload effects arise in difficult single-task paradigms. We developed a novel lab-based extension of the Detection Response Task, which measures workload, and paired it with a Multiple Object Tracking Task to manipulate cognitive load. Load was manipulated either by changing within-task difficulty or by the addition of an extra task. Using quantitative cognitive modelling we showed that these manipulations cause similar cognitive impairments through diminished processing rates, but that the introduction of a second task tends to invoke more cautious response strategies that do not occur when only difficulty changes. We conclude that more prudence should be exercised when directly comparing multi-tasking and difficulty-based workload impairments, particularly when relying on measures of central tendency. Keywords Cognitive workload . Bayesian modeling . Computational models . Multitasking
Introduction Multitasking is the way of modern life. At work, we have several screens and can communicate with collaborators all over the globe. On the go, we can stay connected through in-car technologies like hands-free mobile phones, touch screens, heads-up-displays, and voice-controlled emails. However, Strayer and colleagues (Cooper, Ingebretsen, & Strayer, 2014; Strayer et al., 2013) have shown that these technologies are associated with a significant increase in mental effort, or cognitive workload. Effortful secondary-task use is associated with diminished performance in simulated driving tasks (Drews, Yazdani, Godfrey, Cooper, & Strayer, 2009; Strayer, Drews, & Johnston, 2003) with impairments roughly equivalent to those experienced by drunk drivers (Strayer, Drews, & Crouch, 2006). A recent investigation pointed to driver distraction from the use of cognitively demanding
* Zachary L. Howard [email protected] 1
School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
2
Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
secondary tasks as one of the leading causes of vehicular accidents on US roads (Dingus et al., 2016). The increasing prevalence of cognitively demanding technology motivates a deeper consideration of the factors that underlie increases in mental workload. We use the term “workload” to refer to the total amount of a finite- processing resource that a task or set of tasks uses (thus “high workload” is induced by a more demanding set of tasks).
Cognitive workload and capacity Human capacity for processing information is i
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